European researchers soon to be ‘Teaming’ with €14.5m in EU funding

A new European Union (EU) research fund will be distributing €14.5m across 31 research projects among the member states to push forward some of the continent’s latest scientific endeavours.

To be called Teaming, the EU will give each project up to €500,000 each and will be led by research institutions as well as national or regional authorities to prepare operational plans for new centres of excellence or for upgrading existing ones.

Falling under the Horizon 2020 research investment programme, teams from 14 EU member states will now use this funding to develop their research covering topics including wireless technologies, the internet of things, molecular medicine, space and sustainable agriculture.

With these 31 projects being included in Phase 1 of the Teaming project, Phase 2 will expect 10 of these projects to be selected for further support to implement their new centres, following a competitive review with total funding for this phase forecasted at approximately €87m.

Speaking of this new round of funding, European commissioner for research, science and innovation, Carlos Moedas, said, "Put simply, we want Horizon 2020 funds to benefit as wide a range of European universities and research institutes as possible. We are determined to see that no part of Europe is left behind in research and innovation.

“Teaming now helps to achieve this by creating partnerships between those at the top and those with the most potential."